United States v. James
United States v. James
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM & ORDER
In June 2007,. defendant Timothy Joe James pled guilty to the offense of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
This matter is now before the court on Mr. James’ motion to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. In support of his motion, Mr. James conténds that, in light of Johnson v. United States, — U.S. —, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), his burglary convictions no longer qualify as violent felonies for purposes of the ACCA ánd the court must vacate his sentence. As will be explained, the motion is granted..
Procedural Posture of Mr. James’ Case
In his motion, Mr, James concedes that his conviction became final sometime in 2009 after the Supreme Court denied his petition for writ of certiorari. Nonetheless, he asserts that the one-year statute of limitations for habeas petitions does not bar this initial- § 2255 motion because the motion is timely filed pursuant to § 2255(f)(3), which provides that the one-year statute of limitation period may begin to run on “the date on which the right asserted was initially recognized by the Supreme Court, if that right has been newly recognized by the Supreme Court and made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review.” 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f)(3). The Tenth Circuit has already determined that the Johnson case recognized a new constitutional right. In re Gieswein, 802 F.3d 1143, 1146 (10th Cir. 2015).
The court declines to render a decision about whether Johnson is retroactive to cases on collateral review because the government has expressly waived non-retroac-tivity as a defense and any defense based on the statute of limitations. See United States v. McColley, 2016 WL 1156520, at *2 (W.D.Pa. Mar. 24, 2016) (accepting government’s waiver of retroactivity argument); Hardman v. United States, 149 F.Supp.3d 1144, 1148 & n. 1, 2016 WL 878505, at *2 & n. 1 (W.D.Mo. Mar. 7,
Pertinent Statutory Framework of the ACCA
The ACCA dictates a minimum fifteen-year sentence if the offender violates § 922(g) and has “three previous convictions ... for a violent felony or a serious drug offense.” Id. § 924(e), Under the ACCA,
the term “violent felony” means any crime punishable by imprisonment for' a term exceeding one year, or any act of juvenile delinquency involving the use or carrying of a firearm, knife, or destructive device that would be punishable by imprisonment for such term if committed by an adult, that—
(i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or
(ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.
18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i)-(ii) (emphasis added). The emphasized language is commonly referred to as the “residual clause.” In re Gieswein, 802 F.3d 1143, 1145 (10th Cir. 2015) (citing Johnson, 135 S.Ct. at 2556). In Johnson, the Supreme Court held that enhancing a sentence under the residual clause violates a defendant’s right to due process because that portion of the ACCA is unconstitutionally vague. Id. (citing Johnson, 135 S.Ct. at 2557, 2563).
Mr. James asserts that his three prior convictions for burglary under Missouri law qualify as violent felonies only under the ACCA residual clause. The government, in response to Mr. James’ motion, contends that Mr. James’ convictions nonetheless qualify for the ACCA enhancement because the surviving definition of “violent felony” under the ACCA includes a felony conviction for “burglary” as one of four enumerated offenses. See id. at 1145 n. 2. “Burglary” is not defined in the ACCA, but the Supreme Court has construed the term to mean “generic burglary”—an “unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, a building or other structure, with intent to commit a crime.” Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 598, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990).
Missouri’s Second-Degree Burglary Statute
If the definition of “burglary” in the Missouri statute under which Mr. James was convicted substantially corresponds to the “generic” definition of burglary, then
The record in this case demonstrates that Mr. James pled guilty to three separate counts of an amended complaint charging that he committed burglary in the second degree in violation of Missouri Revised Statutes § 569.170, At the time of his convictions in 1983, that statute provided that a person commits second-degree burglary “when he knowingly enters- unlawfully or knowingly remains unlawfully in a building or inhabitable structure for the purpose of committing a crime therein.” V.A.M.S. § 569.170.
Application of the Categorical Approach
The Eighth Circuit has held that the basic elements of Missouri’s second-degree burglary statute are “the same” as those of the generic burglary offense such that a conviction under the Missouri statute qualifies, as a categorical matter, as a violent felony under the ACCA. See United States v. Olsson, 742 F.3d 855, 856 (8th Cir. 2014). In Olsson, however, the Eighth Circuit never addressed the broad definition of “inhabitable structure” found in V.A.M.S. § 569.010(2) and restricted its review to the language of § 569.170. Because a reading of those provisions together reflects that the Missouri statute defines burglary more broadly than generic burglary,' the court is not persuaded by the Olsson decision. Moreover, in other decisions, the Eighth Circuit has acknowledged that the Missouri burglary statute is broader than generic burglary as defined in Taylor. See United States v. Owens, 596 F.3d 430, 431 n. 2 (8th Cir. 2010); United States v. Bell, 445 F.3d 1086, 1090-91 (8th Cir. 2006) (burglary under Missouri statute is “broadly defined” to include ships, airplanes and vehicles but PSR revealed that defendant was convicted of entering a building). In any event, the court believes that the Tenth Circuit would reject Olssoris application of the categorical approach In favor of applying the modified categorical approach.
As indicated above, the Missouri statute defines an “inhabitable structure” to include moveable structures such as ships, airplanes, trailers and “other vehicles.” V.A.M.S. § 569.010(2). The Tenth Circuit has addressed New Mexico’s burglary statute, which prohibits burglary of both moveable and immovable structures, and held that the statute contained a non-generic definition of burglary requiring application of the modified categorical approach
Application of the Modified Categorical Approach
As- indicated above, the Missouri second-degree burglary statute includes entry into a building (which would trigger the enhancement) as well-as an automobile or trailer (which would not trigger the enhancement). See V.A.M.S. §§ 569.170; 569.010(2). Because' Mr. James’ burglary convictions arose from a guilty plea, the court asks “whether the plea of guilty to burglary defined by [the] nongeneric statute necessarily admitted the elements of the generic offense.” Ridens, 792 F.3d at 1272. In resolving that question, the court is permitted to examine certain documents including “the charging document, the terms of a plea agreement or transcript of colloquy between judge and defendant in which the factual basis for the plea was confirmed by the defendant, or... some comparable juridical record of this information.” Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 26, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005). It is the government’s burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an enhancement under the ACCA is appropriate. See United States v. Delossantos, 680 F.3d 1217, 1219 (10th Cir. 2012).
In an effort to prove that Mr. James’ convictions qualify as generic burglary for purposes of the ACCA, the government submits only the state court amended complaint. According to the government, the amended complaint on its face narrows the
It is undisputed, then, that the amended complaint identifies the specific inhabitable structure only through a street address or the “box number” at what the court presumes is a trailer park. The government contends that the use of a physical street address “clearly” demonstrates that the structure was a building because a trailer or other vehicle would “obviously” not have a street address.
Recently, Judge Kays of the Western District of Missouri held that an information identifying a physical street address did not reasonably permit the inference that the defendant burglarized a house or any other non-vehicular, enclosed space. Hardman v. United States, 149 F.Supp.3d 1144, 1150-51, 2016 WL 878505, at *4 (W.D.Mo. Mar. 7, 2016). In Hardman, the court held that, after the Johnson decision, the defendant’s burglary conviction under V.A.M.S. § 569.170 no longer subjected the defendant to the ACCA enhancement. Id. at 1147-48, at *1. Applying the modified categorical approach, the court examined the criminal information to determine whether the defendant was convicted of generic burglary. Id. at 1149-51, at *3-4. The information charged that the defendant “knowingly entered unlawfully in an inhabitable.structure, located at 2615 Jackson Avenue, and owned by Daniel Salinas
The court first looked at the information’s use of the phrase “inhabitable structure” and easily concluded that the phrase did not establish that the defendant entered a building but merely implied that the defendant entered an “inhabitable structure” as defined in the statutes such that the phrase included vehicles and other movable structures. See id. The court also rejected the government’s argument that the physical street address in the information necessarily' demonstrated that the defendant entered a building as opposed to a moveable structure such as an automobile:
That inference is not as irresistible as the Government thinks. Sure, the information probably did not mean to suggest that Hardman burglarized an airplane parked at 2615 Jackson Avenue. But what about other vehicles? Mobile homes can have street addresses, so the information plausibly could be referring to a mobile home or other movable housing. Alternatively, the “inhabitable structure” in the indictment could mean an automobile, since there are few better ways to concisely convey an automobile’s location than its nearest street address.
Id. In support of that conclusion, Judge Kays looked to the Supreme Court’s decision in Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 26, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005). The sentencing court in Shepard had concluded that the defendant’s prior burglary convictions did not satisfy the ACCA because the underlying complaints provided only street addresses. Id. (citing Justice O’Connor’s dissent in Shepard which recites one of the complaints as listing only a street address). The sentencing court refused to consider police reports that made clear that the addresses corresponded to buildings that were burglarized. Id. (citing Shepard, 544 U.S. at 32, 125 S.Ct. 1254). The First Circuit reversed, but the Supreme Court vindicated the sentencing court and, in doing so, implicitly agreed that street addresses alone did not demonstrate that the defendant had burglarized buildings. Id. (citing Shepard, 544 U.S. at 26, 31, 125 S.Ct. 1254). Ultimately, Judge Kays could not conclude on the information alone that the defendant was, more likely than not, convicted of breaking into a non-vehicular dwelling. See id. at 1151-52, at *5.
The court is persuaded by Judge Kays’ decision and his reliance on Shepard. While the dissent in Shepard objected to the majority’s refusal to consider additional evidence decisively showing that the defendant had in fact unlawfully entered a building, even the dissent agreed that the charging documents, standing alone, were not sufficient to permit an inference that the defendant had burglarized buildings. Unlike the situation in Shepard, the government here presents no additional evidence from which the court could infer that Mr. James burglarized a building as opposed to a vehicle sitting in the driveway at the street addresses identified in the amended complaint or an unattached trailer in the “trailer court” identified in the amended complaint. That amended complaint, which simply tracks the language of the statute, does not establish that Mr. James was convicted of generic burglary under Missouri law
Conclusion
Because the amended complaint does not demonstrate that Mr. James’ three burglary convictions qualify. as generic burglary or any other type of “violent felony,” those convictions do not qualify as ACCA predicate convictions. See Des
Because it is not disputed by the government that, in the absence of the ACCA enhancement, Mr. James’ advisory guidelines range was 12 months to 18 months, the court will resentence Mr. James to time served. All other provisions of the judgment dated October 7, 2007 shall remain in effect.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE COURT THAT Mr. James’ motion to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence (doc. 98) is granted and Mr. James’ sentence is reduced to time served. All other provisions of the judgment dated October 7, 2007 shall remain in effect.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
. Mr. James argued that his burglary convictions were not committed on “occasions different from one another” as required by the ACCA. The "court overruled that objection and the Tenth Circuit affirmed that ruling. United States v. James, 303 Fed.Appx. 632, 638-39 (10th Cir. 2008).
. While the Circuit held that Johnson announced a "new rule of constitutional law” for purposes of § 2255(h)(2), the Circuit's analysis is the same in determining whether a case announces a "right that has been newly recognized” for purposes of § 2255(f)(3). See United States v. Sheridan, 561 Fed.Appx. 689, 691 (10th Cir. 2014).
, This statute was passed in .1979 and has remained unchanged since that time. Minor changes to the statute go into effect on January 1, 2017,
. Effective January 1, 2017, the statute will no longer define "inhabitable structure” in any respect. ' '
. Mr. James contends that the court may not use the modified categorical approach because the Missouri statute is not "divisible.” Indeed, the modified categorical approach applies only when a statute is divisible—that is, the statute sets out one or more elements of the offense in the alternative—for example, • stating that burglary involves entry into a building or an automobile.” Descamps v. United States, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 2281, 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013). The approach does not apply when the statute is overbroad, id. at 2292, and, according to Mr. James, the .Missouri statute is overbroad because a jury could not have to agree unanimously on which type of structure he entered in order to convict him. In light of the court’s conclusion that Mr. James is entitled to relief under the modified categorical approach, the court need not reach this ’ argument, though it believes that the Circuit would reject the argument. See United States v. Ventura-Perez, 666 F.3d 670, 674-75 (10th Cir. 2012)
. This argument seems to ignore the fact that at least one of Mr. James' convictions appears to stem from a burglary at a trailer park with no street address.
Reference
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